Harrah's
To Buy Caesars
As reported by The
New York Post
Harrah's
Entertainment, the world's second-largest casino company,
has reportedly agreed to buy No. 1 Caesars Entertainment.
Harrah's would pay $5.28 billion for Caesars, and assume
$3.97 billion in debt, the The Wall Street Journal reported
on its Web site, citing people close the the companies.
Shares
of Caesars Entertainment earlier rose 15 percent after
the Journal reported that the acqusition was likely.
The
purchase would give Harrah's an additional 28 casinos,
creating the world's largest gambling company at a time
when visits to Las Vegas are surging. It follows MGM Mirage's
agreement last month to acquire Mandalay Resort Group
for $4.8 billion in stock.
"Harrah's
has indicated they have an interest in high-end properties,"
said John Miller, an analyst with Chicago-based Ariel
Capital, which owns 25 million shares of Caesars. "After
the MGM Mirage-Mandalay proposal, it seemed obvious there
was one player left in having quality properties in Las
Vegas and that was Caesars."
Gary
Thompson, a spokesman for Harrah's, and Robert Stewart,
Caesars' spokesman, didn't immediately return calls for
comment.
Harrah's,
based in Las Vegas, currently gets about 70 percent of
its revenue from regional casino markets, such as Joliet,
Ill., and Atlantic City, N.J. In Las Vegas, the company
owns the Harrah's Las Vegas and Rio casinos. The combination
would produce a company with $8.8 billion in revenue,
54 casinos including Caesars Palace and Paris Las Vegas
and about 102,000 employees.
Aspinalls
bringing 500 jobs to Swansea
As reported by The BBC News Online
An
operator says around 500 new jobs are on their way to
Swansea after signing a deal to open a new casino-based
entertainment complex in the city. Aspinalls
will move in to the new GBP £30 million Salubrious
Place leisure development in the Wind Street area of Swansea.
Work
on the 100,000 square feet complex is set to start in
September with the aim of opening in 2006.
The
company says prizes of up to GBP £1 million will
be on offer on either the slot machines or gaming tables.
Director
Damian Aspinall said the casino would be among the first
in a series of new regional casinos operated by the company
following the Government's review of licensing in the
UK.